Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he agreed with his US counterpart, Donald Trump, to work to strengthen Ukraine’s air defences, as concerns mounted in Kyiv over US military aid deliveries.
The two leaders had a “very important and fruitful conversation” by phone on Friday, Zelenskyy said.
“We spoke about opportunities in air defence and agreed that we will work together to strengthen protection of our skies,” he added in a post on the social media platform X.
The president added that he discussed joint defence production, as well as joint purchases and investments, with the US leader.
Meanwhile, US publication Axios, citing an unidentified Ukrainian official and a source with knowledge of the call, said Trump told Zelenskyy he wants to help Ukraine with air defence after escalating attacks from Russia.
This comes a day after the US president spoke to Russia’s Vladimir Putin, in a conversation he said was disappointing.
“I’m very disappointed with the conversation I had today with President Putin, because I don’t think he’s there, and I’m very disappointed,” Trump said after the call on Thursday. “I’m just saying I don’t think he’s looking to stop, and that’s too bad.”
Trump said the call with Putin resulted in no progress at all on efforts to end the war, and the Kremlin reiterated that Moscow would keep pushing to solve the conflict’s “root causes”.
